At least seven countries in the region have already recognized Edmundo González as the winner of the elections in Venezuela, after the electoral body declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner last Monday amid allegations of irregularities.
The US government issued a statement on the matter the day before yesterday.
In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that given the overwhelming evidence, “it is clear to the United States and, more importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González won the majority of votes in the July 28 presidential election.”
Opposition leader María Corina Machado heads the Democratic Unitary Platform coalition, which nominated González for president.
Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea announced on Tuesday that he recognized González’s victory.
“He is the legitimate elected president of Venezuela,” he told reporters. “Based on the fraud committed, I consider Maduro to be a person who wants to perpetuate himself in power through dictatorship.”
Yesterday, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay and Panama expressed themselves in the same way.
For his part, Maduro rejected the US position.
At an event held the day before yesterday in Caracas, he said that the United States has now come out “to say that Venezuela has a different president,” and replied that Washington “should get its nose out of Venezuela.”
He also lashed out at the press that echoed Blinken’s statements, saying that his “patience is running out.”
“The process in Venezuela is still legally, constitutionally, and institutionally uncompleted, and the United States today says that it has the records and the evidence because they are the CNE,” Maduro reproached ironically, referring to the National Electoral Council.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa released a statement on the social network X in which he says that, in respect for the will of the Venezuelan people, Ecuador recognizes that González is the winner of the elections, and adds that in Venezuela there was an “evident manipulation of results.”
For his part, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves also said on X that for his country “it is clear” that Maduro did not receive the majority of votes, he called González president and considered that he obtained an “indisputable” victory.
As for Panama, its president José Raúl Mulino said that he joins the recognition of González as president-elect and hoped that “respect for the popular will prevails as the basis of democracy.”
Along the same lines, Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino wrote in X that, several days after Venezuela’s official electoral records were published on an opposition website, “we can all confirm, without a doubt” that the legitimate winner and president-elect is González.
Uruguayan Foreign Minister Omar Paganini also spoke out on the same social network, saying that for his country it is “clear” that González obtained the majority of votes, and asked that the will of the Venezuelan people be respected.
In Guatemala, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday that it does not recognize the results of the elections held in Venezuela, in which the CNE gave the victory to Maduro, who seeks to “perpetuate himself in power.”
“Guatemala does not recognize the results of the Venezuelan presidential election held on July 28, 2024, due to the lack of appropriate guarantees and the lack of respect for the popular will expressed by the Venezuelan people at the polls,” the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry announced in a statement.
EU felicita
From Washington, Blinken held a call yesterday with González Urrutia and María Corina Machado.
During the conversation, Blinken congratulated Urrutia for having “received the majority of votes” in last Sunday’s elections and expressed his concern for the “safety and well-being” of both him and María Corina, according to a statement.
Blinken’s call came on the same day that María Corina’s party, Vente Venezuela, reported a “robbery” at its headquarters during the early hours of the morning, which we reported on in a separate note.— AP/EFE
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2024-08-16 02:57:30
